Afterthought
by Sadie
Summary: “It all just clicked. The world wasn’t ending. It was Colonel Jack O’Neill. His girlfriend was on the edge of collapse (correction: had collapsed on the couch a while back). And Pete knew it was because Jack O’Neill was hurt.”


AFTERTHOUGHT

AUTHOR: Sadie

EMAIL: eyore83@hotmail.com

CATEGORY: Angst of the Sam/Jack, Sam/Pete variety.  Episode Addition for Lost City Part II.

RATING: PG

SPOILERS: Chimera and Lost City Parts I and II

SEASON: Seven

SUMMARY: "It all just clicked.  The world wasn't ending.  Her best friend hadn't died (not again, thank god).  It was Colonel Jack O'Neill.  His girlfriend was on the edge of collapse (correction: had collapsed on the couch a while back).  And Pete knew it was because Jack O'Neill was hurt."

DISCLAIMER: I am a poor university student… you can have my textbooks if you sue me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  I wrote this fanfic with the intention of characterizing Pete as a good guy who has happened to fall in love with Sam, just like he was portrayed in Chimera.  If you're looking for a story where Jack comes in (riding on a silver horse), punches Pete out, and grabs Sam, and they ride off into the sunset together, this isn't your fanfic (but how funny would it be to see Jack on a horse?!).  I'm just warning you… but also, if you are from the Sam and Jack shipper camp (which I am too), I can also promise that you won't be entirely disappointed…  -S

***

Pete Shanahan knew it wasn't necessarily bad when his girlfriend went missing.  Well "missing" was probably a harsh word.  She was merely on a business trip… traveling to a distant planet.  (No, he wasn't crazy!  Although he sometimes wondered…)

Actually when Sam went missing, (he'd stick with missing… missing was good) he wasn't that concerned.  She occasionally disappeared for weeks on end, for god's sake!  It didn't bug him.  He was the understanding, lovable, funny, normal boyfriend that was the sanity of his girlfriend's life.  Yeah.

When Pete happened to notice that the "meteor shower" had particularly good aim, and was taking out several key industrial areas, he got slightly paranoid.  Was it a cover up?  He wasn't sure if watching Independence Day last night was such a good idea…

When Sam Carter finally called him and her voice sounded like it was the end of the world?  That's when he knew it was bad.

"Hey Pete."  Her voice was battered and weary.

"Sam Carter!" he teased, "I was beginning to worry!"

"Oh, sorry…" mumbled Sam.  Had she been crying?  Pete could hear alarms going off –those silent "something's bad" alarms.  The ones that scared the hell outta him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm… fine." Uh huh.  So fine that she was ready to burst into tears.

"What's wrong?  Do you want me to come over?"

"Would you mind?"

"I'll be there in ten minutes… with food."  And when she started to protest, he said, "You haven't been home in weeks.  Have you looked in your fridge yet?"

She thought about this for a moment, and the brilliant scientist found herself stuck.  "Oh.  Good point.  I'll see you soon."

He drove to Sam's house in a hurry, so much so that he sped through two stop signs.  Not for the first time, Pete wished that he had his police siren still.  Boy that was handy for times like these.

Pete grabbed the takeout bag (and felt the grease seeping through the brown paper), and half-jogged to his girlfriend's door.  He rang the doorbell… rang it again… (was it broken?).  Knocked on the door… knocked a bit more forcefully.  Got ready to kick the door down…

Right in time to see Sam's beautiful, blotchy-red face.  He put down his foot (he wasn't *really* planning on kicking down the door.  Nope.  Not at all.) and opened his arms, ready to give her a hug.  He apparently wasn't quick enough though.  Sam Carter had already turned around headed back inside.  Pete shrugged, and followed behind.

Sam was freezing cold –she'd put on a sweater, and turned up the heat.  She was chilled-to-the-bone cold.  Maybe some coffee would help.  "Do you want some coffee?  Or maybe tea?" she asked on her way to the kitchen.  She had to keep busy.  She was fine.  She was fine.  She was fine.  She was fine.

"Some coffee would be great."  Pete was right behind her.  Sam jumped slightly (military training notwithstanding).

Damn it, she was freezing.  She wondered if that was how the Colonel felt, in that alien device, frozen in the Antarctic ice, dying…

But she wasn't thinking about that right now, she was fine and she was making coffee.

Pete, conscious of the fact that Sam was spacing out, didn't really know what to do.  "Sam, honey, what's wrong."

She didn't answer, busy starring at the kitchen tiling.

"Sam?" he asked again, touching her shoulder.

She jumped for a second time.  "Coffee, right.  Sorry."

"Sam, I'll get the coffee.  Take a seat in the living-room.  I'll be there in a minute."

It was an order, and being the obedient solider, Sam marched into the living room, all the while repeating her mantra over and over again.  _I'm fine.  I'm fine.  I'm fine.  I'm fine._

Two minutes later, Pete found his girlfriend curled up in a ball on the couch, blanket covered, wet-faced with tears, and sound asleep.  His chest felt heavy at the sight.

Half an hour later, the coffee long gone cold, Pete was flicking through a well-worn copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  It was one of the few books Sam kept around that he could read, let alone understand.  It was then that he happened to notice an inscription.  So the book happened to be a gift!  That explained the oddity.

_'To Dorothy,_

_Happy Birthday._

_-Scarecrow_

_and yes, I definitely get to be Scarecrow… Teal'c is the Tinman and Daniel is the Cowardly Lion (well, maybe Toto)'_

Whoever the guy that gave it to her (ex-boyfriend? friend?) had a sense of humour.  He had to respect that.  What kind of a name was Teal'c though….?

But Pete didn't spend too much time thinking about the book's inscription, because someone was ringing the doorbell.  Opening the door, he was greeted with the sight of two men.  Pete instantly recognized them as two of Sam's teammates: Dr. Daniel Jackson and the exclusive "Murray" (all Sam would say about him was that he was "not from around here"… Pete knew better than to ask too many questions).  Maybe they could tell him what the hell was going on?

"Hi!" Pete said, "Daniel and Murray, right?"

"Yeah…" Daniel paused, "Pete?"

"You got it.  Sam fell asleep on the couch… but if you guys wanna come into the kitchen I can make us some coffee…"

"Coffee?" Daniel's eyes lit up.  "That would be great."

Murray was quiet, but he didn't seem much like the talking type.

Daniel gulped down the coffee like a parched man craving water.

"You came to check up on her?" Pete asked, even though it really wasn't a question.

"Yeah.  That obvious, eh?" remarked the archeologist.  Murray sniffed the coffee hesitantly.

"Guess you can't tell me what's wrong, eh?"  Pete crossed his fingers.

Daniel glanced uncertainly at Murray.  Murray starred blankly back it him.  It must have meant something though because Daniel replied, "I can't go into details…"

Pete grinned slightly, "I know, I know.  Military, world-wide security and what-not."

Daniel decided that he liked Pete, and that he was a good man for Sam, but that he had a sense of humour that was entirely too much like Jack O'Neill for him to stomach right now.

"Jack, Colonel O'Neill, did something stupid last week… something that ended up, believe it or not, saving the world.  Unfortunately, he's… gone into a coma and it doesn't look like he's going to be coming out of it soon.  If ever.  And then if he does, it's unlikely he'll live long."

"Oh."

It all just clicked.  The world wasn't ending.  Her best friend hadn't died (not again, thank god).  It was Colonel Jack O'Neill.  His girlfriend was on the edge of collapse (correction: had collapsed on the couch a while back).  And Pete knew it was because Jack O'Neill was hurt.  The pit in his stomach grew larger… and the "something's bad" alarms because sirens.

Pete realized he was being rude only after thirty seconds of dead silence.  What could he say?

"I think we need more coffee."  And proceeded to top off all of their cups.

"Pete?  I thought I heard voices in the kitchen…"

Sam Carter made her entrance: beautiful, graceful, and hoarse from crying (not that she'd ever admit to it).

"Daniel!  Teal'c!"  Sam gave a small grin.  The first Pete had seen in a long time.  (Teal'c?  Wasn't his name was Murray?  And where had he heard the name Teal'c before?)

"Hey Sam.  Why don't you guys go back into the living-room?  I'll make us a fresh pot of coffee," Pete suggested, grabbing the brown stained kettle.  Pete needed a bit of time to think, and he also felt like a bit of an outsider around the three old friends.  Even though he probably shouldn't have.

"Thanks Pete," replied his girlfriend, ushering Daniel and Murray (or was it Teal'c?) back into the living-room.

Pete couldn't make out the whispered secrets.  He wasn't really sure if he wanted too.  Not for the first time, Pete wondered where he stood in Sam Carter's life.  And if he really wanted to fall any deeper than he already was.

The smell of caffeine jerked him out of his reverie.  He notice that the whispering in the living-room seemed too have lulled somewhat.

"I hope everyone doesn't mind black coffee because someone is all out of milk and sugar," Pete said while entering.

Daniel Jackson greedily grabbed his cup (should he be seeing a doctor about this addiction of his?) and Sam smiled weakly.

"We… should probably… get going… anyway," Daniel said between gulps.  Daniel put down his cup and rose (the coffee consumed in under a minute).

"I'll show you out," replied Sam.

And Pete didn't say anything, picking up the pot and cups –he decided to be invisible for a bit.

Murray (or whatever his name was) spoke for the first time at the door.  It was hard not to miss the low rumble of his voice.  "Major Carter, do not worry for O'Neill's well being.  He is a great warrior and has proven himself to win battles against death on numerous occasions."  He put his hand on her shoulder, "We must remain strong until he can return."  (Murray/Teal'c was definitely an alien; no one *really* talked like that…)

"Thanks Teal'c," Sam answered, giving him a hug.  Daniel got a hug too.  Hey, where was his hug?

Pete coughed and made his way out from his hiding spot (also known as the kitchen).  He shook Daniel's hand, and Teal'c nodded towards him (see?  Alien.)

Daniel asked as an afterthought, "You guys wouldn't know how to get to Highway 25 from here, would you?"

"Yeah," replied Pete, "If you have a map in your car, I can show you."

The three of them walked out to Daniel's car (hmmmm, a Jeep Cherokee, who would've thought?).  Murray/Teal'c jumped into the passenger's seat and Daniel grabbed the map.  Pete gave him directions.  Daniel opened the jeep's door and Pete decided that this was as good a time as ever to try and get some answers (he was a cop…. how could he not?).

"Daniel, you seem like an honest guy… I was wondering if you could give me a straight answer about something."

"I'll try, if I can."

"Sam and Colonel O'Neill…"

Daniel sighed, and gave a small grin.  "You probably the just asked the question of the century.  But in my opinion, which I like to think counts for something, they respect each other too much for anything to have ever happened… even if there was a time when they wanted to."

Daniel continued in response to Pete's blank stare, "Military regulations.  No fraternization among officers within the same ranks.  They're teammates first and foremost."

And for some reason, Dr. Jackson's answer didn't make Pete feel any better about the situation.

As Daniel turned to leave and join Murray/Teal'c in the car, Pete had his second epiphany for the day.

"Daniel?" The man turned around.  "I'm just second best, aren't I?"

Daniel took it as a rhetorical question because there was no way in hell he was planning on answering.

"I'll talk to you later Pete," he said as he shut the jeep door.

Pete walked back to Sam's house and headed straight into the living-room.

He picked up the children's novel and stared at the inscription with new-found knowledge.  Teal'c was the Tinman, Daniel with the Cowardly Lion, Sam was Dorothy, and Colonel Jack O'Neill was the Scarecrow.  Who was he suppose to be in that picture?

Also, Pete couldn't help remembering from the movie (he'd never read the book), that Dorothy always liked the Scarecrow best.

He let the book fall to the ground.

"Pete?" called Sam, walking in from the kitchen.  She came just in time to see him putting on his coat.  "Where are you going?"

"Just for a drive, you need some groceries."  _I need to clear my head._

"Oh, thanks.  I'll go and get you some cash…"

"Nah, don't worry about it." And he walked out of the door, car keys in hand.

Maybe Sam would have noticed Pete's strange behaviour on another day, but she was so caught up in her own misery (in addition to severe sleep deprivation) that she was completely oblivious.

Sam watched him, shivering (the cold still not gone), as he got into his car.

Pete wasn't a bad guy….. and sometimes Sam wondered what her life would have been like if her brother had been a bit more on the ball and introduced Pete to her 8 years ago.  Before the SGC.  Before SG-1.  And a tiny part of her whispered, before Jack O'Neill.

End

***

I'm thinking about maybe continuing with this… let me know if you your interested in hearing the rest of the story.  -S


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